1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an oil fence adapted to be tugged by a boat for recovering or collecting pollutants, e.g., spilt oil, from water surface.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to collect spilt oil or other pollutant from water surface, an oil fence has been used which is laid between a tug boat and a collector to recover the floating matter which spreads over a greatly wide area or to introduce it into the collector by turning its flowing direction. In this case, it is usual to position the oil fence line at an angle to a towing direction of the boat. When a prior art oil fence is used in this manner, there is a tendency for the fence to be subjected to a bending moment in a horizontal plane owing to water flow or wind force. Accordingly, the length of the oil fence line will be limited to an unsatisfactory value unless the oil fence is strengthened sufficiently to resist the bending moment. There is also a tendency for skirts or vertical members of the fence to be tilted forwardly due to a component of water flow force (perpendicular to the plane of the skirts) or rearwardly due to a component of wind force (perpendicular to the plane of the skirts), permitting the floating matter to escape through under the oil fence.